The 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man competition took place on April 13th, in Leeds, UK. The one-day competition gathered 12 of the best Strongman athletes that the European continent had to offer and pitted them against each other. After a tremendous battle, Luke Stoltman managed to gather the most points and take home the title.
Unfortunate news came out just days prior to the 2024 edition of Europe’s Strongest Man, as one of the biggest favorites, Mateusz Kieliszkowski, suffered an achilles tendon injury and had to withdraw from the competition. However, the competition moved on without him and the remaining athletes put on a show for the fans.
Luke Stoltman turned up in an incredible shape for the 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man, eager to claim the title once again, after initially winning it three years ago. Stoltman performed excellently across all events, apart from the Deadlift Ladder, where he finished in 10th-place. However, Luke remained calm and collected, managing to overtake Oleksii Novikov and Ondra Fojtu on the very last event of the competition.
2024 Europe’s Strongest Man Results
- Luke Stoltman — 44 points
- Aivars Smaukstelis — 43 points
- Oleksii Novikov — 40 points
- Ondra Fojtu — 38 points
- Shane Flowers — 36.5 points
- Nicolas Cambi — 35 points
- Rauno Heinla — 33 points
- Pa O’Dwyer — 33 points
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 33 points
- Gavin Bilton — 21.5 points
- Fredrik Johansson — 17 points
- Konstantine Janashia — 10 points
Related: 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic UK Results — Mitchell Hooper Triumphant
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Event Recap
Event One — Nicole Stones
The Nicole Stones were the first event of the 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man competition. For this event, the athletes had to pick up a humongous stone with each hand, with one weighing 114-kg (251.3-lb) and the other 139-kg (306.4-lb). The athletes then carried the stones for the maximum distance possible.
The 22-year-old Ondra Fojtu had an incredible start to the competition, as he managed to win the first event. His grip strength and determination were unmatched by any of his 11 rivals, who faced a tremendous challenge in with Ondra’s result of 24.18 meters.
The closest to Ondra was Shane Flowers, who put on a great show competing in front of his home crowd. Flowers dropped the stones just 1.5 meters behind Ondra, which secured him a second-place finish.
Aivars Smaukstelis and Luke Stoltman were the only other athletes to reach the 20-meter mark with the stones in their hands. However, neither of them managed to push themselves an inch further. So, they tied for third-place.
- Ondra Fojtu — 24.18 meters
- Shane Flowers — 22.62 meters
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 20 meters
- Luke Stoltman — 20 meters
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 17.15 meters
- Pa O’Dwyer — 16.91 meters
- Fredrik Johansson — 14.63 meters
- Rauno Heinla — 14.13 meters
- Nicolas Cambi — 13.93 meters
- Oleksii Novikov — 13 meters
- Gavin Bilton — 12.64 meters
- Konstantine Janashia — 10.21 meters
Event Two — Car Walk
The second event of the 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man was the Car Walk, where athletes had to pick up the frame of a car in a squat-like manner and carry it for a distance of 20 meters. The weight of the car came out to 450-kg (992-lb), and the goal was to finish the course in the shortest time possible.
The 2021 Europe’s Strongest Man, Luke Stoltman, wowed everyone with his speed in the Car Walk event. In fact, he managed to complete the task in just 16.13 seconds, which was more than enough to secure him a win and make him the overall leader.
Nicolas Cambi, who was formerly a competitor in the U105KG weight class, also proved to be extremely fast, and managed to secure second place in the Car Walk event. However, it was a hard-fought battle, as he beat Oleksii Novikov by just 0.10 seconds.
- Luke Stoltman — 16.13 s
- Nicolas Cambi — 16.57 s
- Oleksii Novikov — 16.67 s
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 16.73 s
- Konstantine Janashia — 22.38 s
- Aivars Smaukstelis — 24.33 s
- Ondra Fojtu — 26.09 s
- Pa O’Dwyer — 27.69 s
- Rauno Heinla — 29.16 s
- Gavin Bilton — 32.16 s
- Shane Flowers — 41.54 s
- Fredrik Johansson — 48.10 s
Event Three — Deadlift Ladder
Arguably the most notable event in Strongman, the deadlift, found its way to the 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man competition. In this case, the athletes faced five barbells ranging in weight from 300-kg (661.4-lb) to 380-kg (837.8-lb), with the goal of locking out all of them in the shortest time possible.
Rauno Heinla was one of the only men to successfully lock out all five barbells, and was the fastest out of the few that did. He needed just 41 seconds to complete all deadlifts, as would be expected from such an elite athlete as the Masters Deadlift World Record Holder.
Oleksii Novikov and Fredrik Johansson battled for second place, where seconds proved to be crucial. However, the former WSM managed to edge out the Swedish prodigy, finishing all of his deadlifts in just 47.91 seconds.
- Rauno Heinla — 5 in 41.28 s
- Oleksii Novikov — 5 in 47.91 s
- Fredrik Johansson — 5 in 50.60 s
- Pa O’Dwyer — 5 in 61.35 s
- Nicolas Cambi — 4 in 30.02 s
- Aivars Smaukstelis — 4 in 31.65 s
- Shane Flowers — 4 in 31.73 s
- Gavin Bilton — 4 in 32.77 s
- Ondra Fojtu — 4 in 35.23 s
- Luke Stoltman — 4 in 52.76 s
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 4 in 62.53 s
- Konstantine Janashia — 2 in 22.90 s
Event Four — Viking Press
The 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man could not be determined without a test of overhead pressing strength. So, the penultimate event of the competition was the Viking Press. The athletes performed the event on an incredible apparatus, which saw them perform as many reps as possible with wooden logs loaded on the machine.
Ondra Fojtu once again topped the leaderboards in the penultimate event of the competition. It seems that apart from his incredible grip strength, Ondra is also one of the strongest Overhead Pressers in the world, as he managed to complete 16 reps on the Viking Press.
Oleksii Novikov continued to put up incredible results, as his 14 reps on the viking press were enough to secure him a second place finish. In fact, his last rep separated him from the three-men tie that happened just behind him, where Stoltman, Smaukstelis, and Cambi performed 12 reps each.
- Ondra Fojtu — 16 reps
- Oleksii Novikov — 14 reps
- Luke Stoltman — 13 reps
- Aivars Smaukstelis — 13 reps
- Nicolas Cambi — 13 reps
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 12 reps
- Shane Flowers — 11 reps
- Gavin Bilton — 11 reps
- Pa O’Dwyer — 8 reps
- Rauno Heinla — 6 reps
- Konstantine Janashia — 0 reps
- Fredrik Johansson — Withdrew
Event Five — Castle Stones
As is the case in the majority of Strongman competitions, the final event of 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man was the Castle Stones. To perform this event, the athletes had to lift five round stones, progressing in weight from 100-kg (220.5-lb) to 180-kg (395.8-lb). Each of the five stones had to be loaded onto its respective platform. Once again, the goal was to display power and speed. So, the faster the time, the better the result.
Shane Flowers had the satisfaction of finishing in first place at the last event, with a time of 18.53 seconds to finish all five stones. However, the main drama played out in the remaining part of the field, as a surprising turn of events determined the winner.
In a situation that isn’t seen often, Luke Stoltman and Aivars Smaukstelis finished the event with an exact same time down to one hundredth of a second. This played into Stoltman’s favor, as he won the competition overall. Moreover, if Stoltman was just 0.01 seconds slower, Aivars would have been crowned as the champion. So, this proves just how tight the battle for the title was.
That is not the end of surprising outcomes, as Oleksii Novikov and Ondra Fojtu, who came into the final event sitting in the top two positions, both underperformed at the Castle Stones event. In fact, they placed 8th and 9th respectively. So, they were overtaken by Stoltman and Smaukstelis in the final moments of the competition.
- Shane Flowers — 5 in 18.53 s
- Luke Stoltman — 5 in 18.58 s
- Aivars Smaukstelis — 5 in 18.58 s
- Rauno Heinla — 5 in 24.60 s
- Pa O’Dwyer — 5 in 27.04 s
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 5 in 27.52 s
- Gavin Bilton — 5 in 39.53 s
- Oleksii Novikov — 4 in 21.07 s
- Ondra Fojtu — 4 in 21.32 s
- Nicolas Cambi — 4 in 32.78 s
- Fredrik Johansson — Withdrew
Related: 2024 World’s Strongest Man Events Announced
The 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man competition was dubbed the ‘Trilogy of Champions’, since three of the most recent winners took part. Two of them, Luke Stoltman and Oleksii Novikov, were battling for the title once again, but they had another new rival in the form of the young Ondra Fojtu. However, Luke Stoltman’s experience prevailed in the end, and he managed to reclaim his title after three years.
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